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https://www.wsj.com/articles/offbeat...man-1509997635
Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman join forces to save the world in “Justice League,” but their long-awaited team-up may not be the automatic super-hero movie triumph it once seemed.
The Nov. 17 release, which unites the well-known trio with big-screen newcomers Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash, has had perhaps the rockiest road to release of any big-budget movie this year.
In the past 18 months it has sustained a switch in directors and creative tinkering before and after production to lighten the tone. Significant reshoots brought an already big budget up to nearly $300 million, said people close to the picture.
“Justice League” is hitting theaters at a time when Hollywood is shifting from by-the-books portrayals of super-hero stalwarts. The success of films like “Logan,” Warner’s own “Wonder Woman,” and current box-office juggernaut “Thor Ragnarok” indicate audiences are hungry for unique pictures about particular characters.
“Justice League” doesn’t fit that mold. Supporters describe the movie as a crowd-pleaser in which a few super-heroes team up and beat the bad guys. In the movie, Ben Affleck’s Batman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman recruit Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash, who are all reluctant, for different reasons, to join the team.
Last year’s DC movies “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad” were financial successes despite being savaged by critics and diehard fans. There are no more super-hero releases from the studio for 13 months. One person close to the DC film effort called 2018 a “reset year” when executives and producers will focus on a slate of pictures to be driven more by directors’ visions for individual characters than a corporate mandate to put out particular films in a given order, as Warner’s chief executive three years ago announced the studio would do.
Toby Emmerich, who became president of Warner’s motion picture division in December, said he wants DC to worry less about a comprehensive strategy than about making great films. “We don’t want to limit the creativity filmmakers can bring to the table by saying these characters have to come in a particular order and all fit into the same universe,” he said.
DC is a financial pillar for Warner Bros., CEO Kevin Tsujihara has said, in every area of its business from movies to television to consumer products and videogames. Catching up to rival Marvel Entertainment’s big-screen success is crucial.
Originally, “Justice League” was expected to be Warner’s financial anchor this year. But it has turned out not to be critical. June’s “Wonder Woman”—which had been seen as the riskier DC film—was a critical and commercial smash. “It,” which cost $35 million to make and grossed $671 million world-wide, shocked Hollywood as it became a massively profitable hit.
Last year, concerned that their super-hero pictures were becoming too dark and violent, Warner leaders assigned fan-favorite comic-book writer Geoff Johns and production executive Jon Berg to oversee the DC movie slate and give it a more optimistic tone. Their first task was a last-minute rewrite of “Justice League,” done with the “Batman v Superman” team of Zack Snyder and screenwriter Chris Terrio, to make the movie less serious and more hopeful.
Mr. Tsujihara also made clear he wanted “Justice League” to be under two hours, said a person close to the movie. “Batman v Superman,” by contrast, ran 151 minutes.
Production ran from March through October of 2016. When director Zack Snyder delivered his cut early this year, studio executives felt he had made progress with the lighter elements but that more work was needed.
Joss Whedon, the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator and writer/director of two “Avengers” movies for Marvel, already was working with Warner on a movie about DC heroine Batgirl and was given the “Justice League” rewrite. When Mr. Snyder’s daughter died, Mr. Whedon oversaw several weeks of reshoots, with his predecessor’s endorsement, said Mr. Emmerich.
Aficionados likely will be able to pick out the clever, dialogue-heavy scenes shot by Mr. Whedon and the more stylish action scenes shot by Mr. Snyder, but the creative team has endeavored to meld the two. “A lot of the work was integrating the two tones and making it feel like one movie,” said a person close to the post-production process.
Early cuts didn’t achieve that goal, but a test screening of the final version recently earned audience scores close to those of “Wonder Woman,” said people who have seen the data. Pre-release surveys indicate it should open to more than $100 million.
In ‘Justice League,’ Ezra Miller plays the Flash, whom many see as the movie’s breakout character.
In ‘Justice League,’ Ezra Miller plays the Flash, whom many see as the movie’s breakout character. In “Justice League,” Ezra Miller’s Flash, who is young, socially awkward, and hides his fear through humor, is viewed at Warner as the movie’s breakout character. Mr. Emmerich said a solo Flash film is a priority.
“Aquaman” is scheduled for release in December 2018, after which the only other movie with a release date is “Wonder Woman 2” in December 2019.
Messrs. Berg and Johns are developing what Mr. Emmerich described as a “super robust slate” of other DC movies, including Mr. Whedon’s “Batgirl,” a solo Batman picture, the interstellar Green Lantern Corps, and two different takes on the Joker.
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